"....everyone born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith. Who then overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God." 1 John 5:3-5

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Rev. Robert Barron was chagrined, but not entirely surprised when he read Woody Allen’s recent ruminations on ultimate things. To state it bluntly, said Rev. Barron, Woody could not be any bleaker in regard to the issue of meaning in the universe. We live, he said,

"... in a godless and purposeless world. The earth came into existence through mere chance and one day it, along with every work of art and cultural accomplishment, will be incinerated. The universe as a whole will expand and cool until there is nothing left but the void. Every hundred years or so, he continued, a coterie of human beings will be “flushed away” and another will replace it until it is similarly eliminated. So why does he bother making films — roughly one every year? Well, he explained, in order to distract us from the awful truth about the meaninglessness of everything, we need diversions, and this is the service that artists provide." (Woody Allen’s Bleak Vision, nationalreview.com, Aug. 12, 2014)

Like millions of other evolutionary humanists in rebellion against our Heavenly Father, Woody Allen is a nihilist---a non-person. The source of his nihilism is the belief that our Heavenly Father is dead, thus there is no source either for his inner person (soul) or for immutable Truth and Moral Law, hence all truth and morality are relative. According to Eugene (Fr. Seraphim) Rose, nihilism is the basic philosophy of the 20th century:

"It has become, in our time, so widespread and pervasive, has entered so thoroughly and so deeply into the minds and hearts of all men living today, that there is no longer any 'front' on which it may be fought." The heart of this philosophy is "expressed most clearly by Nietzsche and by a character of Dostoyevsky in the phrase: 'God is dead, therefore man becomes God and everything is possible." (Nihilism: The Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age, oodegr.com)

Rev. Richard Wurmbrand (1909 –2001), a Romanian Christian minister of Jewish descent possesses penetrating insight into nihilism because it was his own philosophy for many years. But after fourteen years of physical and mental torment in a man-made hell on earth operated by soulless psychopaths, this courageous pastor emerged with an unquenchable love for Jesus Christ and his fellow man. According to Wurmbrand, nihilism freezes and hardens the souls of its' dehumanized believers:

"You freeze when you think of yourself as only a complicated product of chemical reactions....You cannot see stars (or your soul) through the microscope or microbes through the telescope. Men who cannot think rightly come to the conclusion that God does not exist because they cannot find Him through the senses, which are functions of life in the realm of matter. Senses are not the right means to see God." (The Answer to the Atheist's Handbook, Wurmbrand, p. 105)

The common denominators of Allen's particular form of nihilism as well as those of militant secularism and its' theological and New Age Eastern oriented counterparts are the denial of the supernatural Triune God and creation ex nihilo, the fall (original sin), man as person because created in the spiritual image of the One God in three Persons, Moral Law, immutable Truth, Jesus Christ God enfleshed, His death and Resurrection, heaven and hell.

Within the secular framework there is also denial of angels and demons, especially of Lucifer as the fallen angel Satan. Other common denominators are the embrace of the idea of either pre-existing or spontaneously generated evolving matter and energy and mankind collectively dehumanized and reduced to aspects of the evolving universe. All of these myths are validated by scientism---the instrument of fallen man's will.

Whether matter and energy are held to be eternally existing or spontaneously generated (Cosmic Egg/Big Bang) matters not since the common point of departure for all worldviews grounded in matter and energy is metaphysical nihilism,

"... This position has been held by philosophers such as Parmenides, Buddha, Advaita Vedantins, and perhaps Kant (according to some interpretations of his transcendental idealism). Blob theory can also be considered very closely aligned with mereological nihilism (there are no parts and wholes). Obviously if metaphysical nihilism is correct, empirical reality is an illusion." (What is Metaphysical Nihilism? OpenTopia.com)

Concerned creationists have long pointed out that evolutionary scientism is at the heart of the spiritual and moral crisis facing modern man. A booklet titled The Surrender to Secularism (Cardinal Mindszenty Foundation, 1967) written by Most Rev. Cuthbert O'Gara, former bishop of Yuanling, China, provides a powerful testimony to this truth. Rev. O'Gara relates the following:

"When the Communist troops over-ran my diocese they were followed in short order by the propaganda corps---the civilian branch of the Red Forces---an organization...more fanatical, then the People's Army of Liberation itself. The entire population, city and countryside, was immediately organized into distinctive categories (and) forced to attend the seminar specified for his or her proper category and there (forced to submit) to the official Communist line. Now what...was the first lesson given to the indoctrinees? The first, the fundamental, lesson...was man's descent from the ape---Darwinism! Darwinism negates God, the human soul, the after-life. Into this vacuum Communism enters as the be-all and end-all of the intellectual slavery it has created. In the Red prison in which I was held, the slogan, 'Bring your mind over to us and all your troubles will end,' was hammered into the minds of the prisoners with brutal and numbing monotony. Nothing but a groveling holocaust of the human person can satiate the lust for dominance of Peking’s Red Regime." (Article 12: The Quintessential Evolutionist, waragainstbeing.com)

All forms of the evolutionary scientism dominating our modern societies, from the Neo-Darwinism force-fed to our children to militant forms of secularism, occult New Age evolutionary pantheism and their evolutionary theological counterparts, all are variations of metaphysical nihilism demanding a holocaust of the human person:

"It matters little whether we are dealing with Communism, Socialism, Nazism, abortion, the whole secular culture of perversity and death, the exclusion of God from public education, the crisis within the Church, or a whole host of other individual and social agendas – all are intimately related, and have as a powerful causative factor, belief in Darwinian Evolution." (ibid)

Within the Western civilized world, including America, the idea that everything in the universe reduces to matter and energy is found for example, in the thinking of global NWO socialists, America's progressive ruling class, the evolutionary 'Christianity' of Michael Dowd, the Hindu-pantheism of Teilhard de Chardin, the integral evolutionism of Ken Wilber, the dialectical materialism of Karl Marx, and the 20th century's murderous dictators, Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, Hitler, Mao and Pol Pot.

In his article, "Leftism a Radical Faith," Bruce Riggs notes that much of the political history of the extended twentieth century is that of massive extinctions of citizenries by their dictatorial governments:

"Take the engineered mass starvations, torture chambers, firing squads, and gulags of Lenin and Stalin; Nazi gas chambers; Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge killing fields; the genocides of Mao's "Great Leap Forward"; and the tyrannical North Korean Sung dynasty, and one will find that over one hundred million people have been slaughtered." (American Thinker, Jan. 1, 2014)

In one way or another, these dictatorial governments systematically dehumanized and murdered millions to create an imagined earthly Eden, said Riggs, and this is clearly irrational. In this sense, leftist ideology is an atheist religion with the look of a religious inquisition. Klaus Fischer puts it this way:

“[T]otalitarianism represents the twentieth-century version of traditional religiosity; it is in many ways the secular equivalent of the religious life. Unless this crucial point is captured, the quintessential nature of totalitarianism will elude us.” (ibid)

This "totalitarian religiosity" is grounded in metaphysical nihilism and the dehumanization and reduction of mankind to aspects of the evolving universe on a par with slugs, weeds, and apes. This evil religion continues today as a “scientific,” secular, politico-centric faith,

“....disdainful of theistic beliefs and contemptuous of those who subscribe to them. It is a faith that, in its historical manifestations, has birthed the murderous tyrannies of the extended twentieth century -- tyrannies that have marched under left-wing banners of Marxism, Communism, and National Socialism, or, more generally and descriptively, Coercive Collectivism.” (ibid, Riggs)

As it was for murderous 20th century dictators, so it is for todays’ individual evolutionists that metaphysical nihilism and dehumanization of 'others' is liberating, at least during younger years when death is not yet a blip on the radar. This is because for the uncreated, liberated autonomous 'self' who is the measure of all things and whose life no longer has any ultimate meaning or purpose there is no valid reason why he personally should not do as he wants to do, or why his debauched, even murderous friends should not do what they want to do. But the nihilism, egotism, lying, perverse license, and sadistic pleasure attained through psychological domination and manipulation of dehumanized 'dupes' and their children, all of which nihilists rejoice in during their younger years becomes an unbearable source ofdespair, horror, night terrors, dread, and thoughts of murder and suicide with the advent of old age and the approach of death.

God, Heaven, Hell, Souls and Demons: Do They Exist?

At issue for evolutionary humanists is the existence of the supernatural God of Revelation, the Heavenly Creator who spoke everything into existence ex nihilo. Does He exist and did He reveal Himself to men or not? Rebellious evolutionists say no, all that exists is the natural dimension of matter and energy in continuous motion measured by time that may or may not involve the working of a god invented and controlled by man.

However, existence within the natural dimension of space and time is not the only form of existence. Timeless is the supernatural realm (third heaven) of the eternally existing, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent Holy God of Revelation.

There are three heavens. The first is the immediate sky, or earth's atmosphere. (Genesis 2:19; 7:3, 23; Psalms 8:8; Deuteronomy 11:17) The second is the starry heavens or outer space. (Deuteronomy 17:3; Jeremiah 8:2; Matthew 24:29). The third heaven is outside of time and space, meaning the first and second heavens, thus outside the reach of man's science. The timeless heaven is where God and the holy angels and spirits of righteous men in possession of eternal life dwell and to which Paul was taken. (Deuteronomy 10:14; 1 Kings 8:27; Psalms 115:16; 148:4; 2 Cor.12:2)

Furthermore, all people who have had out-of-body experiences by way of near-death or drugs, astral plane travels, or through shamanism for example, can testify to the existence of their own souls as well as of the timeless abode of demons and fallen angels, the "spirits of wickedness under the heavens" (Eph. 6:12) and their chief, "the prince of the powers of the air." (Eph. 2:2) According to the Apostle Paul, fallen angels thrown down from the third heaven are dispersed in a multitude throughout the first heaven. It is with this timeless abode of fallen angels and demons that shamans interact and to which astral plane travelers from the time of Nimrod to our own have been visiting. According to Francis Huxley and Jeremy Narby:

"Western observers began participating in shamanistic sessions involving hallucinogenic plants, (and) found, to their astonishment, that they could have experiences similar to those described by shamans." 'Life' magazine popularized shamanism in a 1957 story, "In Mexico, American banker Gordon Wasson ate psilocybin mushrooms in a session conducted by (a) shaman." Wasson described to 'Life's' readers his experience of "flying out of his body." Narby and Huxley report that "hundreds of thousands of people read Wasson's account, and many followed his example." (Modern Shamanism: Spirit Contact & Spiritual Progress, James Herrick, p. 17, from "On Global Wizardry, edited by Peter Jones)

When the soul comes out of its' body, as happened to the Satanist William Schnoebelen, it is immediately within the timeless realm of evil spirits. According to early Church Fathers, if the soul is that of a faithful believer who has died it will be met by one of Gods’ Holy Angels and escorted to the third heaven. If not, as was the case with Schnoebelen, it will meet with deceiving, malignant spirits.

William Schnoebelen was a great hardboiled sinner whose damnable transgressionsincluded Satanism and receiving the mark of Satan during an out of body experience. His autobiography, Lucifer Dethroned, is a gripping and horrifying account of his descent into the darkest, most frightening side of the occult, magick, spell-casting, vampirism, astral travel and Satanism and his subsequent restoration through grace and the love of Jesus Christ.

Bill was a demonically-empowered Druidic high priest, high-order Mason, ordained spiritist minister and Satanist who frequently "went out of his body" into the timeless realm for various reasons. As he tells it, one night he was "yanked" out of his body and drawn up through the paths of the Tree of Life toward the zone of Binah or Saturn. His terrifying journey took him to a vast, obsidian trapezoidal shaped temple called the Cathedral of Pain situated in the midst of swirling stars. The inside walls were clear glass,

"...holding back a transparent green fluid. Floating within the fluid...were hundreds of naked (horribly mutilated) human bodies. They were all dead, most with expressions of exquisite terror etched in a rictus on their frozen faces." Then a pillar of light struck an "obsidian throne," a sacrificial altar, and out of the light "appeared a huge being...robed in white…" Mighty wings swept his shoulders. At one moment the winged being was an incredibly handsome man, the next a "bull" and the next a "woman." Chanting began in Latin: "Ave Satanas, Rege Satanas (Hail Satan, Satan Rules)" Then the terrifying being reached out his left hand "and placed it on my forehead....I felt a claw tear into my brow (and) insert itself into my brain like a white-hot poker.." Then a voice spoke: "Now you are mine forever." (p. 157-159)

Schnoebelen was forced to return to the Cathedral of Pain a few more times before turning to Jesus Christ for salvation. One night he finally got down on his knees and confessed,

"...to the Lord that I was indeed a sinner---perhaps the chiefest of sinners (but) I repented (Luke 15:5) and confessed that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins and rose from the dead so that I might have eternal life (Romans 10: 9-10). I asked Jesus to save me from my sins (Romans 10: 13), and to be the absolute Lord of my life (Romans 12: 1-2)" Jesus Christ forgave me and set me "free from unbelievable darkness and evil..." Jesus Christ liberated his demonically oppressed soul."(p. 315)

All people, including 'scientifically enlightened' evolutionary nihilists live in a mysterious world of which we see in part, and that only darkly, because we are imprisoned in the jail of our senses. But as Schnoebelen, shamanists and practicing occultists such as Carl Jung know, there are all about us and even here on earth powerful, intelligent beings that move so fast we cannot see them because they emit rays outside the spectrum of our vision and communicate among themselves on a wavelength beyond what man can hear and apprehend, thus they can observe us, inflate our most disordered passions and influence our dreams and thoughts for good or bad. They can also, by way of telepathy or automatic writing, transmit through someone like Nietzsche or Carl Jung teachings from the demonic realm.

According to the highly celebrated Jung, Philemon, a winged, horned demon, supervised and inspired the writing of the "Seven Sermons to the Dead." Jung described the occasion like this:

"The whole house was....crammed full of spirits. They were packed deep right up to the door, and the air was so thick I could hardly breathe...Then it began to flow out of me, and in the course of three evenings the thing (Septem Sermones ad Mortuos) was written." (Jung relates how his soul departed into the timeless realm)...the mystical land of the dead (and) soon after the.....'dead' appeared to me and the result was the Septem Sermones." (To Hell and Back, Maurice S. Rawlings, M.D., p.143)

Spirits can, and do, influence the minds of pride-inflated evolutionary humanists who then trumpet the nihilistic ideas dropped into their minds as their own brilliant ideas and do the work of devils by leading astray millions of people with their damnable soul-destroying teachings.

Evolutionary seculars and their theological and occult New Age counterparts commit grievous sins and live as if they will never die. But the God of Revelation, heaven, hell, angels and demons exist, and even now, without their knowledge, rebellious nihilists are being prepared to receive the mark of Satan on their foreheads unless they repent. Before it's too late, let them learn from the despairing words of other adversaries of Jesus Christ:

"What blood, what murders, what evil counsels have I followed. I am lost, I see it well." Charles IX, King of France

"I would give worlds, if I had them, if the Age of Reason (an anti-Christian book) had never been published. Oh, Lord, help me. Christ, help me. Stay with me. It is hell to be left alone." Thomas Paine

"...I had a feeling that life was ebbing from me. I felt powerful sensations of dread (then suddenly everything) turned a glowing red. I saw twisted faces grimacing as they stared down at me (I tried to defend myself but) could no longer shut out the frightful truth: beyond the faces dominating this fiery world were faces of the damned. I had a feeling of despair....the sensation of horror was so great it choked me. Obviously I was in Hell itself (and then suddenly) the black silhouette of a human figure began to draw near...a woman...with lipless mouth and in her eyes an expression that sent icy shudders down my back. She stretched out her arms...and pulled me by an irresistible force (into) a world filled with....sounds of lamentation....I asked the figure...who she was. A voice answered: "I am death." (German actor Curt Jürgen’s, To Hell and Back, pp. 76-77)

Nihilists are lost and spiritually blind--- to the reality of the timeless realms, but especially to the third heaven of our Heavenly Father. So too are they are blind to the reality of their own frozen souls and to the existence of devils all around them for their foolish hearts are darkened (Rom. 1:21) and their thoughts evil (Gn. 6:5). They are ignorant, guilty, and corrupt. They have exchanged God's Revelation for scientism and His Truth and Way for a lie (Rom. 1:25). Their darkened minds are wholly blind to the saving Light of Christ that shines into the hearts of the faithful. (John 8:12)

From his own experience, Eugene Rose believed that a nihilist cannot come to Christ fully until he is first aware of how far he and his society have fallen away from Him, that is, until he has first faced the Nihilism in himself:

"The Nihilism of our age exists in all," he wrote, “and those who do not, with the aid of God, choose to combat it in the name of the fullness of Being of the living God, are swallowed up in it already. We have been brought to the edge of the abyss of nothingness and, whether we recognize its nature or not, we will, through affinity for the ever-present nothingness within us, be engulfed in it beyond all hope of redemption-unless we cling in full and certain faith (which doubting, does not doubt) to Christ, without Whom we are truly nothing." (Nihilism: The Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age, oodegr.com)

"This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil." "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.… (John 3:19-20)

For all who repent of their sins, combat their nihilism (i.e., moral relativism, skepticism, evolutionism) with the aid of God and unite with the faithful who persevere in the Way of Christ, death is merely a doorway to eternal physical life, first in the third heaven for a while, then in a physical Paradise---the earth and heavens renewed and remade in unimaginably wondrous ways. But for the stubborn, dehumanized nihilist who prefers shriveled self to our Lord and darkness to Light the approach of old age and death are accompanied by increasing afflictions of the mind---despair, depression, nightmares, inexplicable feelings of dread and horror---because beyond the grave lies only eternal remorse in utter darkness.